Bhandari
Bhandari men in western India (c. 1855-1862)
Regions with significant populations
Primary populations in:
Languages
Marathi and various dialects of Konkani
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Konkani people

The Bhandari community is a caste that inhabits the western coast of India. Their traditional occupation was "toddy tapping". They form the largest caste group in the state of Goa, reportedly being over 30% of that state's Hindu population, and play a major role in deciding the future of any political party there.[1][2] Bhandaris are included in the list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Goa and Maharashtra.[3]

History

Although the word "Bhandari" is derived from the Sanskrit word "Mandharale", which means "distiller", Bhandaris prefer derivation from Bhandar, which means treasury, because they used to be treasury guards in the past.[4]

Traditionally, their occupation was drawing toddy from palm plants. Historical evidence suggests that they were foot soldiers in the Maratha Empire and British Indian Army. The famous "Hetkaris" in the army of Shivaji were Bhandaris. During Shivaji's time, Maynak Bhandari was a chief Admiral.[5]

Bhandaris are divided into various sub-castes such as Kitte, Hetkari, Thale and Gavad. During British Raj, Bhandaris lacked unity among various sub-castes and the differences within these sub-jatis hindered the community progress. The leaders of these sub-castes established their independent caste associations. A Bhandari author from the British era says that they were traditionally active in teaching and learning, and were involved in setting up schools for all castes either in temples or outside someone's house. He says that the community should not blame Brahmins for lack of their education as they did not avail educational opportunities in the British era.[4]

In 1878, the British colonial government passed a law that would enable them to control liquor market in India and maximize profit. This resulted in low quality liquor flooding the market. In protest, the Bhandari community - whose traditional occupation was to ferment toddy - declined to supply toddy to the government.[6]

Affirmative Action

Bhandaris are included in the list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Goa. This provides them with certain rights under India's scheme of affirmative action, such as reservation of positions in government employment and admission to professional colleges.[7] They are also classified as OBCs in Maharashtra.[3]

Varna status

During the British era, in the 19th century, Bhandaris faced discrimination in education as they did not belong to the twice-born varna.[8]

M. R. Bodas, a Brahmin pleader,[9] published an article in Chitramay Jagat (1922) where he opined that Bhandari caste was of Shudra origin. This received strong response in another article where the author claimed that the community existed from the era of Mahabharata and that the Bhandaris were originally from Rajputana and were Kshatriya converts to Jainism whose occupation was trading. The author mentioned Sati and Jauhar as proof for their heritage. The article by Bodas piqued the Bhandari community and the community members met in 1922 to address the issue.[4] Tukaram Padaval, who belonged to Bhandari caste and a close associate of Jyotiba Phule, said that the claim to Kshatriya status was common among many upper and lower castes but there was no certainty at all as to who among them are the original Kshatriyas.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Treasurers of yore, now key to political fortune". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  2. ^ Scott C. Martin (16 December 2014). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Alcohol: Social, Cultural, and Historical Perspectives. SAGE Publications. pp. 1384–. ISBN 978-1-4833-3108-9.
  3. ^ a b "List of Castes in Other Backward Class of Maharashtra". Maharashtra State OBC Finance and Development Corporation. Archived from the original on 22 September 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  4. ^ a b c Seshan, Radhika; Kumbhojkar, Shraddha (2018). Re-searching Transitions in Indian History. Taylor & Francis. pp. 154–157.
  5. ^ B. R. Kamble, ed. (1982). Studies in Shivaji and His Times. Shivaji University. p. 211. but he selected one Maynaik Bhandari to be one of the Chief Admirals in the Navy . But this does not mean that Shivaji had elevated the Bhandari caste
  6. ^ Mark Lawrence Schrad (2021). Smashing the Liquor Machine: A Global History of Prohibition. Oxford University Press. pp. 204–. ISBN 978-0-19-084157-7.
  7. ^ "Goa govt increases quota for OBCs in jobs to 27%". TNN. No. Jan 16, 2014, 03.23AM IST. TOI. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  8. ^ Paik, Shailaja (2014). Dalit Women's Education in Modern India: Double Discrimination. Taylor and Francis Group. p. 45. ISBN 978-0415493000.
  9. ^ John R. McLane (8 March 2015). Indian Nationalism and the Early Congress. Princeton University Press. pp. 266–. ISBN 978-1-4008-7023-3.
  10. ^ O'Hanlon, Rosalind (2002). Caste, Conflict and Ideology: Mahatma Jotirao Phule and Low Caste Protest in Nineteenth-Century Western India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-52152-308-0.
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